One Vladimir Romanov, a former Russian submariner who is now a Lithuanian citizen, has purchased what remains of the old Soviet nuclear submarine K19, the infamous "Widowmaker" featured in the Harrison Ford flick "K-19: Widowmaker." The submarine was stricken in 1991 and partially broken up in 2003, but its center section still exists. Mr Romanov says he plans to take the thing to Moscow and turn it into a hotel, of sorts, for ex-Russian submariners.
Somehow I have a hard time taking this seriously. Note, by the way, the rather ridiculous remark Mr Romanov makes about his "most precious moments" aboard the Widowmaker, and the even more ridiculous remark made by "Anne" at the bottom of the story.
Frankly, the only "precious moment" I could imagine apropos a Russian submarine are those when I'm far, far away from them.
For those of you unfamiliar with the story of the Widowmaker, be advised that the movie sugarcoats reality. Ten dockyard workers died in various incidents connected with the boat's construction, and shortly before sailing on her fateful voyage, her chief reactor officer was dismissed for drunkenness (his replacement came straight from training school). On an early mission, 1,500 miles from port, one of the two reactors suffered a failure of the highly-radioactive primary coolant circuit. The transmitting antenna initially failed to transmit, and the boat's commander had no choice but to send eight men into the affected reactor compartment to jury-rig a repair for the primary circuit (the backup system wasn't installed). When the men exited the compartment after an hour, they were so seriously affected by radiation sickness that their faces were swollen and they were vomiting white and yellow foam. Considerable radiation was leaked to the rest of the boat when the reactor compartment was open and when radioactive steam leaked into the boat's ventilation system.... The rest of the story can be found on the National Geographic's website.
Somehow I have a hard time taking this seriously. Note, by the way, the rather ridiculous remark Mr Romanov makes about his "most precious moments" aboard the Widowmaker, and the even more ridiculous remark made by "Anne" at the bottom of the story.
Frankly, the only "precious moment" I could imagine apropos a Russian submarine are those when I'm far, far away from them.
For those of you unfamiliar with the story of the Widowmaker, be advised that the movie sugarcoats reality. Ten dockyard workers died in various incidents connected with the boat's construction, and shortly before sailing on her fateful voyage, her chief reactor officer was dismissed for drunkenness (his replacement came straight from training school). On an early mission, 1,500 miles from port, one of the two reactors suffered a failure of the highly-radioactive primary coolant circuit. The transmitting antenna initially failed to transmit, and the boat's commander had no choice but to send eight men into the affected reactor compartment to jury-rig a repair for the primary circuit (the backup system wasn't installed). When the men exited the compartment after an hour, they were so seriously affected by radiation sickness that their faces were swollen and they were vomiting white and yellow foam. Considerable radiation was leaked to the rest of the boat when the reactor compartment was open and when radioactive steam leaked into the boat's ventilation system.... The rest of the story can be found on the National Geographic's website.
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